10 Tips For Newly Registered Nurses

If you’re just moving into your first registered Nursing role, School Nurse, Yvette offers her top ten tips to help you settle in and begin your career as a Newly Registered Nurse.

Topics covered in this article

Introduction

Tip 1 - Always Remain Organised

Tip 2 - Plan Your Annual Leave

Tip 3 - Advocate For Your Patient

Tip 4 - Stay Hydrated

Tip 5 - Don’t Be Afraid To Be Yourself

Tip 6 - Always Report Your Mistakes

Tip 7 - Ensure You Always Have Supervision Times

Tip 8 - Always Ask For Help

Tip 9 - Build A Nursing Network

Tip 10 - Always Enjoy The Moment

Introduction

Hi everyone, welcome, welcome, welcome. We're back with another video. Today's video is sponsored by nurses.co.uk.

Today's video is gonna be my 10 top tips on transitioning from student nurse to registered nurse.

Tip 1 - Always Remain Organised

Tip number one, always remain organised.

And now what does remaining organised look like?

So little things that you can help to maintain organisation when you're on shift is having a little pouch.

Now this little pouch will be full of many, many things.

This can include pens, your stamp, a little note pad, yeah.

This neck pad is really, really good.

Like really key for like handover, noting down information that you might forget in the future.

You can make notes on common medication that is used in the area they are working in, little things, but always ensure that your notes are confidential at all times.

Now, moving on, what else is in this bag?

So I've got things like my nasal inhaler, a little mirror, lip balm, hand cream.

All of these kinds of things help support you being organised on shift.

Being organised can also include using a time sheet to get you through your shifts.

This time sheet will allow you to not forget any of your tasks that you have to do.

Also ensure medication, cares, et cetera, are all done on time.

So consider using a time sheet to help you get through your shift.

Tip 2 - Plan Your Annual Leave

Tip number two, plan your annual leave days.

Annual leave days are so important. Self care is so important.

Don't only wait to when you actually need to take time off.

Having planned annual leave days gives you something to look forward to.

Rest is very important when practicing as a nurse.

Tip 3 - Advocate For Your Patient

Always ensure you remain an advocate for your patient.

The NMC teaches us that our patients are our first priority.

This is true in many cases, and it's very important to have our patients at the centre of our care.

Having your patients at the centre of your care means that all their needs are met.

This ensures that patients receive a high quality standard of care.

This will allow you to feel fulfilled in your nursing role and keep on going.

Tip 4 - Stay Hydrated

Tip number four, ensure you remain hydrated throughout your shift.

Now, how can you do that?

Invest in a bar like this, and this will make you never forget to drink on shift.

Sometimes shifts can be really busy and it can be really hard to keep on going down to the fountain to have a cup of water or fill up your water bottle.

But when you have a bottle like this, there's no way you can forget to drink.

Tip 5 - Don’t Be Afraid To Be Yourself

Tip number five, ensure you remain yourself and keep your own identity.

This helps with maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

When you're at work, you're able to step into your professional shoes and perform as a nurse.

And when you step out of work, you maintain your identity.

That allows you to not feel too consumed with work and also reduce the chances of nurse burnout.

Tip 6 - Always Report Your Mistakes

Tip number six, now as daunting as it can be, always, always report your mistakes.

If it can happen to you, it can happen to anyone else.

This will help your unit, your place of work to put in measures to ensure that these mistakes don't happen again.

This is very important for your safety and all service users.

Tip 7 - Ensure You Always Have Supervision Times

Tip number seven, now another one that can be a bit difficult, but ensure you always have supervision times.

Now, when you're working on a robust, fast environment, this can be difficult at times, but it's very important.

Speak to your preceptor, speak to your ward manager, to ensure you get that protected time to be able to reflect on your current practice and how you can improve moving forward.

This will also support your ongoing professional development as new registered nurse.

Tip 8 - Always Ask For Help

Tip number eight, now this is my favourite. Always, always ask for help.

There is no such thing as a stupid question, because if you don't ask, your patients, you, service users, your colleagues can be at risk.

If you don't know how to do something, always, always, always ask for help.

If you're unsure about something, again, ask for help.

Tip 9 - Build A Nursing Network

Tip number nine, build a nursing network.

Now there's nothing better than speaking or confiding in someone that actually understands where you're coming from.

It's all good and well, having a support system where you can speak to, but having a support system that can understand and relate where you're coming from.

Also building positive relationships in healthcare helps a lot.

It doesn't only have to be a newly qualified registered nurses.

This can be doctors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, et cetera.

We are all pieces to one puzzle, and it's really good to have different connections in different areas.

Tip 10 - Always Enjoy The Moment

Last but not least, my top tip number 10 is to always, always enjoy the moment that you're in.

Enjoy the process, enjoy every stage of your nursing career, because this is something that you're looking to build and develop as you go along.

Every stage is equally important as the other.

So enjoy your present moment and keep on going.

On that note guys, thank you for listening and stay tuned to the next video, bye.